{"id":3860,"date":"2017-02-26T11:38:11","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T16:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tinder-a-platform-after-your-own-heart\/"},"modified":"2017-02-26T11:38:11","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T16:38:11","slug":"tinder-a-platform-after-your-own-heart","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tinder-a-platform-after-your-own-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinder: A Platform After Your Own Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

The online dating industry is a big market currently raking in $2B in annual revenue and expanding at an annual rate of 5% from 2010 to 2015.[i]<\/a> Young adults, age 18-24 years old, have led this surge in usage with 22% having used a mobile dating app, compared to just 5% in 2014.[ii]<\/a> With users spending an average of 90 minutes a day browsing through dating apps, logging in on average 11 times a day, dating sites have an incredible opportunity to capture value from these users looking to find a connection.[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Source[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n

However with over 500 dating apps now on Apple\u2019s App Store[v]<\/a>, it is getting harder and harder for dating apps to create value through scaled growth of network effects and to capture financial value. In this industry ridden with multihoming, the Wall Street Journal found that \u201cthe abundance of options means (consumers) are rarely loyal to one dating site.\u201d[vi]<\/a><\/p>\n

Tinder, the mobile dating app that introduced the concept of \u201cswipe right\u201d and \u201cswipe left\u201d into our daily vocabulary, has found value in being one of the first movers in the mobile app dating space. With 50M users worldwide, Tinder boasts that its user-friendly platform produces 1.2B profile views a day leading to 15M matches![vii]<\/a> Through using a \u201cfreemium\u201d model and developing a less time consuming platform through which users can create enticing profiles, Tinder has maximized the number of users entering the platform looking for a connection. When a female user is looking for a male connection, for example, and vice versa, indirect network effects are at play as each gender receives more value from the platform when additional users of the opposite gender join the app.<\/p>\n

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Source[viii]<\/a>, Source[ix]<\/a><\/p>\n

To capture value from these users, Tinder has introduced three key elements that continue to drive their revenue up.<\/p>\n

Tinder Plus, Tinder\u2019s subscription model, at $9.99\/month[x]<\/a> let\u2019s the user undo an erred swipe left as well as view and swipe right on users outside of the geographical location of the Tinder Plus user, a constraint of the freemium model. With 284,000 paid users added in Q3 2016, Tinder has reached 1.5M paid users thus capturing financial value from these subscriptions.[xi]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Source[xii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Tinder has also introduced the concept of Tinder Boost, which Tinder Plus users can activate once per week to increase their view rate for 30 minutes. Freemium users can also access Boost at a $3.99\/activation creating a revenue stream from Tinder\u2019s primarily free users.<\/p>\n

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Lastly, Tinder has partnered with a number of advertisers to place curated profiles into its app to connect with users. In 2015, Domino\u2019s created a Valentine\u2019s Day campaign in which users were matched with Domino\u2019s profile leading to engaging mobile chatting connecting with 234,358 consumers and a PR reach of over 2.2M impressions.[xiii]<\/a> These creative campaigns allow Tinder to utilize and capture value from its platform for love, by connecting users to products, movies, celebrities etc..<\/p>\n